This is somewhat of a follow up on last week’s entry about massage therapy and its benefits for pregnant women. As was reported in many news outlets across the country, around 10 percent of men experience serious depression either before or after their partner’s pregnancy. The benefits of massage therapy for women before and after their pregnancy thus seem to naturally extend to men.
Symptoms of prenatal and postpartum depression in men can take the form of stress and sleep deprivation. As MassageMag points out, massage therapy has already been demonstrated to relieve depression and aid in sleep for pregnant women, both prenatal and post-pregnancy.
The study that discovered the somewhat surprising fact of pre and postnatal depression in men also highlighted trends of when men are most likely to feel symptoms of depression: the highest rate of depression was seen in men three to six months after their partner’s pregnancy, but depression and its symptoms could strike men anywhere from the first trimester of their partner’s pregnancy to one year after birth.
The natural conclusion therefore seems to be that men can benefit from massage therapy and should consider it before and after their partner’s pregnancy to ensure they are as physically and mentally healthy as possible for their newborn(s) and partner.